Written Answers Friday 12 January 2007

Scottish Executive

Air Passenger Duty

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the increase in air passenger duty from £5 to £10 in February 2007 will have on Scotland.

Tavish Scott: The increase in air passenger duty will have a minor impact on the Scottish economy as a whole. However, the increase will bring a commensurate increase in the cost of fares under the Executive’s Air Discount Scheme on every return journey from an airport outwith the Highlands and Islands.

Bridges

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce legislation to replace the existing Forth Road Bridge at a sufficiently early stage to ensure that the current crossing will not be closed or disrupted over the next 20 years.

Tavish Scott: The Forth Replacement Crossing Study, which is currently underway, was instigated in light of the problems associated with the cables on the existing bridge. Legislation for any replacement crossing is being considered as part of the study.

Bridges

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the results of its preliminary examination of the case for a new Forth crossing and who is contracted by either it or Transport Scotland to undertake the examination.

Tavish Scott: Jacobs, supported by Faber Maunsell have been commissioned to undertake the Forth Replacement Crossing Study as a fast-tracked element of the Strategic Transport Projects Review. The reports will be published on the Transport Scotland website following completion of the internal reviews routinely and necessarily undertaken upon receipt of such reports.

  Transport Scotland has operational responsibility for this area and can be contacted for more information if required.

Concessionary Travel

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many elderly residents have received a concessionary travel card in the Stirling parliamentary constituency.

Tavish Scott: Statistics are only available by local authority area and cannot be broken down to reflect the number of cardholders within particular parliamentary constituencies.

  However, at 5 January 2007 the number of national entitlement cards, which give an entitlement to Scotland-wide free bus travel, issued to Stirling Council residents over the age of 60 was 13,638.

Fuel Duty

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the inflation rise in fuel duty from midnight on 6 December 2006 will have on Scotland.

Tavish Scott: This increase will affect fuel prices throughout the UK and could put around 50 pence on an average tank of petrol. We recognise the concerns of residents of rural Scotland who experience higher than average fuel prices and can be dependent on private transport. We are spending substantial sums through our Rural Transport Fund to improve transport services in rural areas.

  The taxation of fuel is a matter reserved to the UK Government. However, Scottish ministers will continue to ensure that Scotland’s interests on fuel costs are firmly on the agenda in Whitehall through direct contact with Treasury Ministers.

Housing

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what programmes exist to assist people who are deaf or hard of hearing with the installation of carbon monoxide detectors.

Des McNulty: Gas safety is a matter reserved to the UK Parliament, and dealt with by the Health and Safety Executive. Installation of carbon monoxide detectors is not mandatory, and we are not aware of any programmes to assist with their installation.

Housing

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether landlords have any duty to supply carbon monoxide detectors and, if so, whether addressing the special needs of people who are deaf and hard of hearing is part of any such duty.

Des McNulty: Landlords are required, under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, to have all gas appliances and flues checked annually and to issue a copy of the gas safety certificate to the tenant. There is no duty on landlords to supply carbon monoxide detectors. However, the Scottish National Core Standards and Good Practice Guidance for Private Landlords recommend that they should be provided. These standards are published by Communities Scotland, for use by voluntary landlord accreditation schemes, and represent higher standards than the minimum legal requirements.

  If a landlord provides a carbon monoxide detector, and the tenant or another occupier of the house is deaf or hard of hearing, the landlord may be required to provide a detector with a suitable alarm mechanism, such as a flashing light, as a reasonable adjustment under the Disability Discrimination Act.

Justice

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28367 by Mr Jim Wallace on 9 September 2002, how many Scottish judges are currently members of the Privy Council and whether it will list them.

Cathy Jamieson: The total number of Scottish judges, including retired judges, is 23. The names in alphabetical order are listed as follows:

  
The Rt Hon Lord Abernethy
  The Rt Hon Lord Cameron of Lochbroom*
  The Rt Hon Lord Coulsfield*
  The Rt Hon Lord Cullen of Whitekirk*
  The Rt Hon Lord Eassie
  The Rt Hon Lord Gill
  The Rt Hon Lord Hamilton
  The Rt Hon Lord Hardie
  The Rt Hon Lord Hope of Craighead
  The Rt Hon Lord Jauncey of Tullichettle*
  The Rt Hon Lord Johnston
  The Rt Hon Lord Kingarth
  The Rt Hon Lord Macfadyen
  The Rt Hon Lord Mackay of Clashfern*
  The Rt Hon Lord Mackay of Drumadoon
  The Rt Hon Lord Marnoch*
  The Rt Hon Lord Nimmo Smith
  The Rt Hon Lord Osborne
  The Rt Hon Lord Penrose*
  The Rt Hon Lord Philip
  The Rt Hon Lord Prosser*
  The Rt Hon Lord Rodger of Earlsferry*
  The Rt Hon Lord Sutherland*
*Retired.

Police

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Strathclyde Police in relation to increasing the number of police officers available for police response.

Cathy Jamieson: The deployment of police officers to particular tasks is an operational matter for the Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police.

Police

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers have been recruited to Strathclyde Police in the last year, broken down into those who (a) perform administrative duties, (b) undertake the monitoring of sex offenders and (c) are available for police response.

Cathy Jamieson: Strathclyde Police recruited 494 police officers in 2005-06. Information on the deployment of officers to particular duties is not held centrally and is an operational matter for the Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police.

Police

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers were employed in the Strathclyde Police area in 1999, broken down into those who (a) performed administrative duties, (b) undertook the monitoring of sex offenders and (c) were available for police response.

Cathy Jamieson: At 30 June 1999 there were 7,123 (headcount) police officers in Strathclyde Police compared with 7,770 (whole-time equivalent) at the end of September 2006. Information on the deployment of police officers to particular duties is not held centrally and is an operational matter for the Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police.

Police

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Strathclyde Police to evaluate the effectiveness of centralising all calls from the public to a Glasgow-based call centre.

Cathy Jamieson: The issue of call centres is an operational matter that falls to the relevant Chief Constable. Their effectiveness will be reviewed by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary as part of the regular inspection process.

Police

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to publish its response to the Police Arbitration Tribunal’s report into the 2006 police pay award.

Cathy Jamieson: Police pay issues are dealt with on a UK-wide basis. The Police Arbitration Tribunal’s recommendation on the police officer pay award for 2006 was received on 6 November 2006. Following consultations with myself and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Home Secretary subsequently announced that the tribunal’s recommendation for a 3% pay rise for police officers with effect from 1 September 2006 would be implemented in full.

Police

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the increase has been in police numbers in Central Scotland Police since (a) 1997 and (b) 1999.

Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-30465 on 21 December 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Race Relations Act 1976

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to promote the performance of its agencies in obtaining employment monitoring data in line with their duties under the Race Relations Act 1976.

Mr Tom McCabe: In line with our legal obligations, Diversity Strategy and Departmental Diversity Delivery Plan, the Scottish Executive, as an employer, is committed to improving the diversity of its workforce and the quality of employment monitoring data, including for those agencies included in the Collective Employment Monitoring Scheme of our Race Equality Scheme.

  The majority of this information is held on the Executive’s central human resources database and not by the agencies themselves. We undertake regular staff re-surveys and monitoring exercises to ensure the accuracy and completeness of data held. For information that is not held centrally, we encourage individual agencies to take similar steps and have issued advice and guidance to ensure that all relevant information is collected.

  Information on the Executive’s Collective Employment Monitoring Scheme is published on its website.

  The collection of monitoring data for those agencies not included in the Executive’s Race Equality Scheme is a matter for each individual agency. This includes the Scottish Prison Service, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the Scottish Court Service, Registers of Scotland and Communities Scotland (prior to 2004)

Sectarianism

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking, in addition to work in relation to football and parades, to tackle latent sectarianism in some parts of Scotland.

Cathy Jamieson: Real progress has been made in tackling sectarianism in Scotland and I am proud of what has been achieved. The reconvened Summit on Sectarianism, held on 12 December 2006, allowed the Executive and key stakeholders to reaffirm their commitment to working in partnership to eradicate sectarianism once and for all and we will continue to work together to drive this agenda forward.

  There is a great deal of activity taking place in addition to the positive work which is being taken forward in relation to football and parades. For example, we have:

  
Made the anti-sectarian education resource Don’t Give It, Don’t Take It available to all schools in Scotland;
Published the Building Friendships and Strengthening Communities guide to twinning denominational and non-denominational schools;
Been working closely with the Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations to support and share knowledge and experience among anti-sectarianism groups working in the voluntary sector;
Supported research to quantify the problem of sectarianism in the workplace, and
Been working with the independent Task Group on Tackling Sectarianism in Scotland to develop new ideas and initiatives such as the development of a rehabilitation programme to tackle the anti-social attitudes of those involved in sectarian activities.


  An update on progress made on the Action Plan on Tackling Sectarianism in Scotland is available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/12/11133338/0

Transport

Mark Ballard (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it plans to allocate in each of the next five years for cycling and walking infrastructure, broken down by organisation receiving the funding.

Tavish Scott: Funding allocated for cycling and walking infrastructure for the years 2006-07 and 2007-08, broken down by organisation, is listed in the following table. A funding package of £5 million pounds to tackle the school run is still to be allocated for 2007-08 and will include some cycling and walking infrastructure projects. Funding beyond 2008 will be determined in the spending review 2007.

  

Organisation
2006-07
(£000)
2007-08
(£000)


Aberdeen City
358
365


Aberdeenshire
402
412


Angus
187
191


Argyll and Bute
160
163


City of Edinburgh 
796
818


Clackmannanshire
84
86


Eilean Siar
44
45


Dumfries and Galloway
256
262


Dundee City
245
249


East Ayrshire
208
212


East Dunbartonshire
187
191


East Lothian
165
170


East Renfrewshire
160
165


Falkirk
259
267


Fife
622
639


Glasgow City
1,000
1,021


Highland
365
374


Inverclyde
143
146


Midlothian
144
149


Moray
150
154


North Ayrshire
236
241


North Lanarkshire
565
579


Orkney Islands
33
34


Perth and Kinross
240
247


Renfrewshire
298
304


Scottish Borders
191
196


Shetland Islands
39
40


South Ayrshire
194
199


South Lanarkshire
531
544


Stirling
155
160


West Dunbartonshire
160
164


West Lothian
293
303


Total
8,870
9,090



  

Organisation
2006-07
(£000)
2007-08
(£000)


Sustrans
6,800
4,000


Transport Scotland
1,250
1,250


Yet to be Allocated
 
5,000


Grand Total
16,920
19,340

Transport

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to consult on road pricing schemes.

Tavish Scott: None. The Scottish Executive has no road pricing schemes on which to consult.

Warm Deal

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to replicate the £250 million programme to tackle fuel poverty in England and Wales, given that an estimated £5 million of funding initially committed to the Warm Deal programme has now been allocated elsewhere.

Des McNulty: To March 2006 we spent almost £276 million on fuel poverty programmes. Over 2006-08 we have allocated nearly £108 million to these programmes.

  In each of the years 2006-08 we have allocated £5 million to the Warm Deal. From this year’s Warm Deal resource, £2.5 million has been allocated to work in the private sector and £2.5 million to local authorities and housing associations to deliver Warm Deal measures in their properties. We have recently allocated an additional £5 million to fuel poverty programmes in response to the continued high demand for these programmes.

Warm Deal

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made any decisions on whether to end the Warm Deal.

Des McNulty: I have made no decision to end the Warm Deal. As I have already announced the Warm Deal and central heating programme will continue till at least 2008. Going forward from then, allocation of resource to the programmes will be determined by the outcome of the 2007 spending review.

Warm Deal

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many households it estimates would qualify for assistance and insulation under the Warm Deal programme from October 2007 to October 2008.

Des McNulty: We are on track to deliver our target of 17,500 Warm Deal installations between April 2006 and March 2007. Going forward from there, the allocation of resource to the programme will be determined by the outcome of the 2007 spending review.

Warm Deal

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to run down the Warm Deal programme for both insulation and heating installations.

Des McNulty: I have no plans to run down either the Warm Deal or the central heating programme. As I have already announced both programmes will run at least to 2008. Going forward from then, resource allocation to the programmes will be determined by the outcome of the 2007 spending review.